The Brock University BIPOC Law Society (BLS) was ratified by BUSU in November 2025. The club, which currently has 60 members, hosted its first major event — a LinkedIn panel — on the week of Jan. 19, aiming to provide accessible legal education.
The Brock Press was invited by BLS Presidents Samantha Lukulu and Ameera Shahbar to cover the new club and what it has to offer to Brock students.
Lukulu explained that the idea to create BLS came about in February 2025 when her and Shahbar each began considering law as a career. The idea of creating a BIPOC Law Society only grew from there.
“We kept meeting more people who wanted to be in these sorts of [law-related] programs,” said Lukulu. She explained that a lot of students talked about wanting to join Law Plus, a co-curricular program offered by Brock University, but could not for various reasons. However, she emphasized that BLS is not a one-for-one substitute for Law Plus and has its own unique offerings as a club.
Lukulu then asked herself the question “how come there isn’t a law club here at Brock?” before learning a couple months later that there is another law-related club at Brock, Amicus Curiae.
In regard to Amicus Curiae, Lukulu stated that “their involvement isn’t exactly what a lot of people are looking for.”
“I think a lot of what [students] are looking for is what Law Plus offers, but Law Plus isn’t accessible to everybody; it costs money [and] it’s a lot of hours,” said Lukulu.
BLS was designed in part to be more accessible to students than Law Plus, according to Lukulu. Shahbar added that “not everyone has the money for Law Plus and not everyone knows about Law Plus until they enter Brock.” Law Plus requires an application and hard time commitments meaning it does not function like a traditional club.
Shahbar described entry into Law Plus as being “exclusive.” Shahbar positioned BLS as a more open alternative, where anyone can join and attend regardless of commitment levels and personal scheduling.
Lukulu explained that BLS offers exposure to the legal field for everyone, including those who “aren’t too sure if they want to join law.”
BLS is looking to offer Law School Admission Test (LSAT) workshops, Q and A panels with different lawyers and panels containing current law students — all with a focus on People of Colour.
Lukulu advised that their “hope is to eventually make the whole government […] actually represent the society it’s supposed to be serving.”
Lukulu explained that BLS addresses the reality that where you end up in the legal field does in part depend on what you look like, and that “these are real conversations that we need to be having.”
It is important to both presidents that BLS is financially accessible, in contrast to Law Plus. As such, the club only has one ticketed event planned for this year. The event is free for registered members and only non-members who want to join will be asked to pay.
“What we want to focus on is making it free and accessible as much as possible, because everything that we’re doing you can inherently do by yourself just by sending someone an email or hooking up with someone on LinkedIn. It’s super easy, but some people just don’t know how to do that.”
Lukulu invites students to visit BLS so that the club can show them how to network and start looking into law school. The intention is to make students feel less alone. “The reality is, law is a lot about connections,” said Lukulu. “What we’re doing already is setting us up for years and years ahead.”
Lukulu expressed the possibility of BLS collaborating with several LSAT companies in the coming weeks as the club builds its connections with lawyers and law students. Lukulu aims to bring these opportunities to Brock so that everyone can experience them without being blocked by “something as simple as travel accommodations.”
BLS is hosting a LSAT workshop on Feb. 11 with Legally Bright on campus. They are also planning to host a panel with Osgoode Law School to discuss the school’s Juris Doctor program.
Additionally, BLS is planning to host an ambassador panel with current law students to discuss their experiences. The panel is slated to be diverse in members with “very different backgrounds in first year, second year and third year, so experiences will vary,” according to Lukulu.
When asked about the main difference between Amicus Curiae and BLS, Lukulu said that BLS “[focuses] more on the Brock community and [Amicus Curiae] do things more externally involving travel.”
“I think it’s different to what we do, but I still think they’re doing amazing work,” said Lukulu.
For students interested in keeping up with BLS events, Lukulu recommends following the BLS Instagram and joining the club on ExperienceBU to receive email updates on club events.
Lukulu explained that “people need spaces like this. I remember coming to Brock my first year and going to a Black Student Association event […] coming to a space where it really felt like home, with people who know the same jokes I do, with conversations and experiences that I’ve had specifically really aided me coming into university and I feel like it’s important to do the same.”
Shahbar explained that BLS is “trying to support and empower aspiring lawyers from Black, Indigenous and other communities by providing them mentorship, networking opportunities and skill building workshops and a safe place for dialogue about diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal field.”
Lukulu emphasized that the club is open to everyone and invites all students to come if they can.